To assist associations in advocating for the full and meaningful participation of academic staff in governance, CAUT has compiled spreadsheets detailing the composition of university and college governing boards. The information is sourced from applicable provincial legislation and bylaws, as well as institutional websites.

Most universities have at least one academic staff representative on the Board of Governors. Academic staff in universities represent, on average, 11% of university board members across Canada. Board appointments representing the university’s senate may be academic staff appointments – but not always – and represent just 1% of board members.

College boards across Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario have one academic staff representative as per legislation, except for Alberta’s polytechnic boards which have two academic staff representatives.

It is CAUT’s position that academic staff members who serve on the Board of Governors should retain the full protection of the collective agreement. At 16% of universities, academic staff members explicitly retain their bargaining unit rights while serving on the Board.

• Report on the cross-Canada comparison of university & college Boards of Governors
• Cross Canada comparison of university Board of Governors spreadsheet
• Cross Canada comparison of college Board of Governors spreadsheet

If you have any questions, please contact us at research@caut.ca.